My family moved this week… Our new home is just a mile from our old home. But that doesn’t mean the moving was easy.
Moving is never easy.
There were a lot of good reasons for us to move:
Our new home will be easier to take care of; easier to keep clean.
It’s a good move for us financially.
It will help us live more in line with our values.
There will be a few challenges as well… The kitchen, for example, is much smaller than we are used to.
And already, I’m missing the giant bow window we had in the living room of our old home. That window faced east. And nearly every morning for the past two years, I’d get up before sunrise, fix myself some tea, and sit by that window, reading and watching the sunrise.
The living room windows in our new home face north and west, so I won’t be watching the sun rise from those windows, though I will be able to watch the sky brighten and change colors as the new day begins…
**** I’ve always enjoyed watching the sunrise. I have often watched the sun rise at a very special place to me: Leo Carrillo State Park in southern California, where I’ve gone camping many times over the years.
The campground at Leo Carrillo is in a canyon filled with sycamore trees, and at the end of the canyon is the beach.
Countless times, as a kid and as an adult, I would get up early in the morning, crawl out of my tent, and walk to the beach, sit on some rocks overlooking the cove, and wait for the sun to rise.
Usually there would be some surfers catching waves, and sometimes I’d see a dolphin or two swim by.
And when the sun did rise, and the rays hit the foam on the waves right below me, that ocean foam turned golden—sometimes with a hint of pink. The ocean glowed in colors that I’d never really seen before.
People say that clouds have a silver lining, and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an actual silver lining on a cloud, but I have seen many an ocean wave with a pinkish-gold lining, reflecting the morning rays of the sun.
And the rest of the ocean, which was dark grey before the sunrise, suddenly turned shades of blue and turquoise.
Believe it or not, I can still see the sun rising over that beach anytime I want, from the window in my office, thanks to a little magic that Ginger and a few of you made happen shortly after I moved here. If you know, you know!
**** When the sun starts to rise, First, the dark sky starts to glow, faintly. Gradually, it brightens. Some mornings, the sky to the east turns a brilliant orange or pink… And that’s a magical time. Full of hope and promise. A new day is about to begin. The dark night, filled with worry and anxiety, is coming to an end.
It’s strange how anxieties really do lessen when that faint glow begins to appear. It’s not just me, is it? Do you feel a little less stressed, a little less afraid, a little more hopeful, at the start of a new day?
The things that I worry about during the night, things that sometimes keep me awake, seem less imposing, less intimidating. As the light returns to the sky, I know that my challenges are still there, yet I think to myself: “I got this!”
At night, when all is dark, it’s so easy to feel that things are hopeless, that the dawn will never come, that things are bad and will never get better.
But then, that glow begins to appear in the eastern sky. And it catches you by surprise. It catches you by surprise, even though you were expecting it! And you think: “How is it that I am surprised? How is it that this faint glow has renewed my hope? It happens every day; yet I forgot to wait. I forgot that I could count on it—count on the sun—returning once again, bringing daylight and sunshine and a sort of “reset” to all of creation.
And you feel that “reset,” that new beginning, within you, within your soul. You’ve been given another day; another chance; another opportunity to live fully the life God intends for you to live.
I think that’s as good a description for where we’re at as any.
It’s a good description for where we’re at as a society, as a nation. Many are feeling the dark despair of night. Many worry that the night will never end.
Many are feeling this for a number of reasons.
For some, it’s because of a darkness within them… It could be loneliness. It could be depression. It could be grief. It could be a lack of purpose or meaning in their life.
For others, it’s because of external factors: The current political landscape; The lack of love and compassion in our society; The existential threats we face because of climate change, or war.
These and other things make it feel that we are living in a dark night of despair, one that feels like it will never end.
But then Advent comes, and we are reminded that the dawn is coming, that it is, in fact, already here. The eastern sky is glowing, and the sun will soon appear.
It is, as Paul says, the moment for you to wake from sleep; the moment to wake up from our nightmare of despair, and greet dawn of hope.
And then, as the sun’s rays appear, we see its golden light illuminating all the signs of hope that are around us, which we could not see in the darkness.
Our scripture from two weeks ago was a passage from Luke talking about the destruction of the temple and the end of all things, and how Jesus said to his disciples that, despite all that’s going on or is about to happen, that they shouldn’t be afraid, but should rejoice in the opportunity these events give them to bear witness to the gospel.
These times that WE are in are giving US the opportunity to bear witness to the gospel in new ways.
And even as some Christians seem to be forsaking the compassionate way of living Christ taught, others are rising up, finding new ways to show mercy and love to their neighbors… and, in doing so, they are helping the world see that bright, glowing morning light that is the light of Christ.
Clergy and other Christians have been making news for defending the rights of immigrants, insisting that we love and welcome the stranger as Christ commands us to do.
And people are noticing.
And more and more churches are affirming the worth and dignity and holiness of those who are gay, lesbian, or transgender. They are working to correct decades of scriptural misinterpretation and redirecting the church to love for one’s neighbor, no matter who that neighbor is.
Just here in Bloomington-Normal there are over a dozen Open and Affirming communities of faith, and we are increasingly working together, seizing the opportunity to bear witness to God’s radically inclusive and affirming love for all.
There are also signs of hope, and a new dawn rising, right here in our own regional church. We are creating a new, combined region—the Living Waters Region—made up of Disciples congregations in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. And starting tomorrow, we will have a new regional minister to guide us in this: Rev. Dr. William Crowder.
There are also signs of hope right here in our own neighborhood. Lifelong Access is currently renovating the old Pantagraph building, to provide services and support to a wide demographic right across the street from us. Before Thanksgiving they had an Open House at their facility in Normal, and I went and met some of the people who help run that organization, and I look forward to some new partnership opportunities for us here at First Christian Church, in addition to the many partnerships we already have with so many other organizations in our community.
These are just a few of the many rays of sunlight penetrating into our world. We are all like mirrors, reflecting those rays into the world, but the light itself is the light of Christ.
**** Christ is the source of our hope.
He is the one who brings good news to the poor, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed.
He is the one of whom Mary, his mother, sang, declaring that he lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry with good food, yet brings down the powerful from their thrones.
He is the one who showed us how to love. He taught us to love our neighbor, and to welcome the stranger.
He is life itself, the life that is the light of all people; the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.
We celebrate the light that comes into the world on Christmas day. For now, the sun has not yet risen; yet there is a glow in the eastern sky.
The light is coming. And it brings with it the hope of a new world, restored, redeemed, and renewed, by the son God sends into the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment